"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."

-- Phillips Brooks

by Jami Petersen

Calculating your turn rates should be at the top of your “to do” list. Learn why in this week's Business SMART article, which will also help you outline business goals.

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

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Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.
 

Trends International Acquires Sandylion Inc. Trends International Publishing Corporation announced that it has completed an acquisition of Sandylion Inc., the global leader in the design, marketing, manufacturing and distribution of novelty stickers and creative products. The acquisition brings together some of the industry’s strongest brands and products and accelerates Trends International’s continuing initiative to advance its global position in the consumer products industry.

Chronos releases iScrapbook 3. "Chronos has released iScrapbook 3, a major upgrade to its digital scrapbooking software. The new version includes twenty new templates, font and cover flow previews, and faster page loading. Like the previous, well-received edition, the latest offers an easy and good-looking way to create scrapbook layouts chock full of photos, artwork, captions, and other graphical elements. The templates are customizable, and provide a quick way to get started on a project. iScrapbook plays nice with iPhoto, streamlining the process of actually getting images into your scrapbooks."

Sandi Genovese, Scrapbooking TV Star, Returns With Launch Of Free Weekly Web TV Show. Fans are eagerly welcoming the return of Sandi Genovese, popular former host of “DIY Scrapbooking” on the DIY and HGTV Networks as she launches a new scrapbooking and craft show recorded in her Laguna Beach, California studio. She is once again sharing her creative scrapping and crafting demonstrations, this time through the Scrapbook Showgram, a weekly online TV show. Sandi is a multitalented author, artist and educator who has traveled the country demonstrating the latest in scrapbooking and paper crafting.

by Dennis A. Conforto, A-Z Media Group, Inc.

For the next few weeks we will be covering the major items that drive profits. At the top of the list of profit drivers is inventory turn. If you look at the companies who turn their inventory the fastest, you will see they tend to be the largest.

A Look at Other Industries
Take, for example, Dell Computers on the manufacturing side. Dell uses just-in-time inventory; as a result, they turned their inventory so fast they could finance their own growth. And grow they did – into the largest PC manufacturer in the world with sales of nearly $50 billion worldwide. There were plenty of manufacturers who were bigger than them when they started, but no one worked the supply chain process like Michael Dell.

On the retail side there was no one like Sam Walton; who started out with a bunch of Ben Franklin stores. He wanted to do two things: turn his inventory faster to drive his cost of doing business down and have the lowest prices. Ben Franklin, for whom Walton was managing some variety stores, said no. Sam Walton turned around and founded Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is now the largest company on earth. Basing their business on turns, Wal-Mart now has sales approaching 1/3 of $1 trillion, with almost 2 million employees worldwide.

The interesting thing about these two companies is that in their success, they are liked and disliked in equal measure. The consumers reward them with more and more business each year. Their competitors dislike them because they just don’t know how to compete with them. And to compete with them you have to out-turn them just like they did to their competitors many years ago.

A Look at the Scrapbooking Industry
In the scrapbook industry the average retail turn rate is about 2.2 turns per year. No matter how you cut it, at that turn rate, an average scrapbooking retailer can only stay in business 4 years before they run out of capital to run their business. A retailer can have a great store, great employees, and awesome customers, and they can even be growing, but there comes a time when that turn rate catches up to the retailer and wipes them out.

Within the next 18 months about 1,000 independent retailers will fail because they don’t understand how inventory turn rate affects their bottom and top lines. It used to be that every time a retailer failed another one would take its place, but that will not be the case this time. This time about 300 stores will replace the 1,000 that will be lost. And that’s a shame, because it does not have to be this way.

Turning one’s inventory is not the fun side of retailing and manufacturing, it is, nonetheless, the essence of a profitable business. There are 5 reasons why a business that turns their inventory faster is just a healthier and better business at the end of the day.

1. They know what is selling and they keep it in stock; this boosts sales in an ever-upward spiral trend.
2. They know what is not selling and they get rid of it fast; this keeps most of the inventory fresh and new, which the consumer loves.
3. Those who stock the right inventory limit their selection to the best vendors and the best products.
4. Those who turn inventory fast have positive cash flow and real operating profits to show for all their hard work.
5. Those who turn their inventory fast have lower operating cost and can therefore compete with anyone large or small in their market area.

In summary, higher inventory turns mean higher sales, higher margins, higher cash flow, higher profits, lower operating cost and a more loyal consumer. Just ask Dell and Wal-Mart… and that is what SMART business is all about.

If you would like to comment directly to Dennis about this article or have him address a subject matter in future articles feel free to email him directly at dconforto@a-z.com.

The Memory Tradeshow

The Memory Tradeshow is the premiere market for scrapbooking and related products, family history and digital imaging.

It is the most important gathering of this industry regionally, and it’s attracting executives from all sectors: manufacturers, retailers, distributors, suppliers, sales reps, designers and press. The show’s goal is to provide the highest ROI show within the industry with a greater focus on the business of the memory industry, education and best business practices.

Learn more and save >>

Founded in 2009, the House Of Three brand was co-founded by industry leaders Heidi Swapp, Janet Hopkins, and Rhonna Farrer. Together these three women have developed a digital and hybrid printable products website that has become an inspiration destination for crafters all over the globe. Now, this talented trio has joined forces with craft manufacturer Pink Paislee, LLC to release their first signature line of paper crafting products.

Elegant design meets eclectic materials in this new Parisian Anthology Collection.

This stunning array of products will include designer ink resist papers, brooch brads, polymer clear stamps, printed corrugate shapes, and several unique embellishments designed with crafters in mind. Whether you are a paper crafter, jewelry maker, or seamstress you will find something in this collection to incorporate into your art.

"This amazing team has been providing project inspiration to loyal fans over the past year," explains Pink Paislee Owner Rebecca Cross. "We wanted to introduce their sophisticated "design district" style to the everyday scrapbook enthusiast. We are very excited about adding this Parisian inspired collection to our growing family of products and we welcome the chance to work with this extremely talented group of women!"

The House of Three team joined forces with Pink Paislee early in 2010 to begin developing an exclusive collection that will be distributed across the world. These products will be available to those who have not yet ventured into the digital hybrid realm and want to enjoy a more "hands on" approach to crafting.

"We have loved Pink Paislee's products since they hit the market" says Janet Hopkins, co-founder from the House Of Three. "Their fresh designs and low retail price points are hard to beat. When we decided to venture into physical products we knew this would be a good match for us so we jumped at the chance to work with Rebecca and her team," explains Hopkins. "Our customers have been requesting physical products from us ever since the inception of our digital site and we think now is a good time for us to infuse our vibe into a craft collection for retailers everywhere. We could not be more excited about this new venture!"

For more information about Pink Paislee's new Parisian Anthology line featuring designs from the House Of Three (MSRP: $0.99 - $19.99) visit the website.

About Pink Paislee
Established in 2008, Pink Paislee is a family owned business based outside of Kansas City, Missouri. Specializing in product design and development for the craft industry with an emphasis on scrapbooking and papercrafts, we take pride in knowing that our collections are designed for individuals with a unique sense of style!